Fast food workers use comic to blow the whistle on the crime of wage theft & call for action

Popular webcomic details wage theft crime wave, asks what it will take to "make them pay"

Little more than a week after Seattle fast food strikers came to City Hall to brief city councilmembers on the issues they face at work, members of Good Jobs Seattle continue to grow their movement with massive public outreach and education around this hidden crime, with materials including … a comic strip.

The Wage Theft: Make them Pay strip has already racked up more than 15,000 views from Seattle-area Facebookers in just the first few days since its publication, rocketed to the front page of the Seattle sub-reddit, and generated countless conversations about the issue of wage theft, its prevalence in the fast food industry, and the question of what it will take to make the fast food chains pay for this crime.

Wage theft is a major problem for fast food workers and others in low-wage jobs. Numerous Seattle fast food workers have shared stories about their own experience of wage theft, and national studies suggest anywhere from two-thirds to 84% of low-wage workers regularly experience wage theft.

Background:

The crime of wage theft is committed when an employer fails to pay time-and-half for hours over 40 in a week; requires workers to work before or after their shifts, or during breaks; takes illegal deductions from paychecks, for example for uniforms or register shortages; or otherwise fails to properly pay workers for all their hours.

Sparked by the May 30th fast food strike, Good Jobs Seattle is a growing movement which seeks to build a sustainable future for Seattle's economy from the bottom up — by turning poverty-wage jobs in fast food and other industries into good jobs that offer opportunities for a better future and pay enough for workers to afford basic necessities like food, clothing and rent. Good Jobs Seattle is supported by organizations including Washington Community Action Network, Working Washington, OneAmerica, and hundreds of workers and grassroots supporters.

About Working Washington: Our mission is to build a powerful workers’ movement that can not only dramatically improve wages and working conditions, but can also change the local and national conversation about wealth, inequality, and the value of work. More info…

Our mission is to build a powerful workers’ movement that can not only dramatically improve wages and working conditions, but can also change the local and national conversation about wealth, inequality, and the value of work.

Working Washington fast food strikers sparked the fight that won Seattle's landmark $15 minimum wage. We drove Amazon to sever ties with right-wing lobby group ALEC and improve conditions in their sweatshop warehouses. And we helped lead the winning campaign in SeaTac for a $15 living wage.